And the decisions of so many people played a part in the outcomes of our lives.

Sunday, December 22, 2013
9:49 AM

She didn't see a future in the relationship. But he did. He wanted to marry her and raise the baby. And if she wouldn't marry him, he wanted to raise the baby anyway. By himself with the help of his family. But that's not what she wanted for her baby. So she hid her pregnancy from her friends and family, went away for a while for work, and did the best she could. It was the late 1960's in a tiny town in the south. And A + B = BAD NEWS in this situation. So she went to the small local clinic and found the answer. The nurse there knew a family who would be happy to raise the baby - her son and his wife - a preacher and family with 4 kids already. Kids quite a bit older. So it would be a starting over for this family at a late age. But they wanted him.

So when the time came, the teenage girl told her parents she was sick with a stomach virus and went to the clinic. Where she stayed for a day or two. And she had a baby boy. And I don't know how she felt. Did she want to change the plan and keep him? Or was she so afraid of her parents that she never gave it a possible thought? Or was she so determined to give him a better chance that she just did what she had to do?

I only spoke to the mom once. Years later. And didn't get all of those answers.... because I didn't know to ask the right questions. I wasn't a mother yet, myself.

I do know that she never had any more children. But the dad did. And he and his wife have raised a loving, close family.

After the baby was born, the preacher and his family came to the little clinic in the small Louisiana town and paid the girl's hospital charges. And carried their new baby home as a precious Christmas gift. With a new family and a new home in a new state. The only record of the birth being the receipt for the medical charge.

And the family raised him and loved him. His older siblings almost grown and married by that point, so he had lots of help around. And in 1980 they moved to my city and I met my future husband.

We became fast friends and lifetime friends. And 33 years later we have three kids of our own.

A good story with so many possible endings. And the decisions of so many people played a part in the outcomes of our lives.

And I can only imagine the prayers that were said over that baby. That the right thing happen. That the right home be apparent and open. And that the right decision be made to get him there. It's been 45 years and looks like it all worked out.